Frequently, announcements are made in the media of another lost or stolen laptop computer or other electronic device from some company or government agency that stores private employee or customer data. The loss of an electronic device incurs a significant risk to such data, as well as to other forms of data such as intellectual property.
Employees frequently travel with valuable corporate assets on their laptop computers. Furthermore, company staff may travel between sites, attend conferences, and visit customers with laptop computers loaded with private data. Marketing, finance, engineering, company executives, and further key employees are all potential targets of not just common theft, but also of corporate spying. The loss of corporate information may have real immediate consequences. For example, the loss of private financial, investment, or future product data may have an immediate effect on a company's stock and future plans. The effects of the loss of private customer data may range from embarrassment and inconvenience to a serious legal concern and financial threat from lawsuits.
Many business and governmental entities implement techniques for securing data on electronic devices used by employees of the entities. Such techniques tend to focus on data encryption, and have been adopted in relatively low amounts due to various limitations. For instance, data encryption systems may be difficult or expensive to set up and maintain over time, and a fear may exist that encrypted data may become irretrievable when an employee forgets their private password or permanently departs the entity. These limitations are worsened when the electronic devices reside outside of an internal network and security domain of the entity, because automated key escrow systems may rely on the electronic device being directly accessible to the key escrow system. Furthermore, the unlocking of data may be cumbersome for the employee even when there is a key escrow policy in place.